ALI OPPY - New Zealand
Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve always enjoyed creating art, and I have tried many different art forms.
One of my most enjoyable was creating paintings using spray paint to the accompanying sound of upbeat music
in front of a live audience.
After many years of doing this, however, I decided it was time to move to something new. I soon discovered the
digital world and fell in love with Photoshop. With no digital art skills, I started to create using Photoshop and
a few other editing programs. And after many hours spent watching tutorials and many dedicated hours spent
practicing, I started creating fantasy artwork in what I hoped might become my own style â&#x20AC;&#x201D; limited only by my
imagination.

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I discovered Sebastian Michaels, his Photoshop Artistry course, and then “AWAKE” Living the Photo Artistic
Life.” and now doing the ‘KAIZEN” course. I thought here is my chance to try and improve my art and try and
refine how I do my art.
Looking for my own artistic name was something I wanted from early on, and it ultimately came to me through
the sadness of my father passing away. At my father’s funeral a sparrow flew in and stayed for the whole
time of the service to the end and then flew away. This was how the creation of my artistic name ‘Mystic Sparrow’ came about.
When I first started, I created work in a variety of styles, from fantasy to surreal, trying to discover my own
unique style. I now love to create what I think of as “Fantasy Female Portraits.” My world of mystical and magical fantasy art seems to carry a touch of mystery, which I think further brings my “Mystery Sparrow” to life
in my art. In fact, I incorporate a small sparrow within all of my images, sometimes obvious sometimes not so
obvious.
A specific process I tend to follow when I work is ... I start with a general idea of what I want to attempt, and
pick out my model ... then I build the background ... and bringing those together, I begin layering in other
images. Everything else grows from there. I just keep adding different images, and most times what I have
in mind never quite ends up the way I expected. I will add an image ... and what do you know ... another idea
occurs to me,so I run with that one until I am happy with how it looks. Add another image, and off I am again,
chasing down another idea that struck me.
When creating my images, I often get so lost in the process, I feel I end up in the world of fantasy. The outside
world ceases to exist. I usually have about four different compositions on the go at any one time so when I get
stuck and don’t know what to do next, I leave that image and move to another. Later on, I will come back to my
original piece with fresh eyes. In the end, it probably takes me on average about 40 hours to complete any one
piece of art.
Many artists now inspire my creativity. As do fantasy movies, like Maleficent (my all-time favourite).
I also surf the internet for fantasy artwork to see what sparks my imagination.
My most loved artist is the painter Jim Warren with his fantasy and surreal type art. He is a great inspiration.
For me, I think it’s that I now see life itself as an artistic creation ... one that I can enhance and carry further
within my fantasy world — a world of pure creativity, without boundaries.
My artistic journey so far has seen my art published in the “Artists Down Under” magazine [featuring the
AWAKE artists of Australia and New Zealand] as well as “Fine Art Photography from Around the World” magazine.
Most exciting of all was being featured in the April 2018 edition of “Living The Photo Artistic Life” magazine,
and having one of my images on the cover, was something I thought was going to only be a dream.
When creating my art I like to run by the rules of, set your own goals, create for your own satisfaction, and
enjoy every artistic creation you create. Decide from the start to leave your mark as an artist for the universe
to enjoy.
We are all our own unique creators, each of us living our own artistic life. So most of all, just love what you do
and have fun doing it.